The 8 mistakes that cost a grade
By Loïc Jané12 min read
Calibrating GradeMate's analysis against the published criteria of the grading companies, I spent a lot of time looking at why a card loses points. The same causes keep coming back.
In short
Points are lost at three moments: at printing, during the card's life, and at submission. At printing, centering is fixed and will never be recovered. During the card's life, corners and surface suffer — bare-handed handling, the wrong sleeve, friction inside a full binder. At submission the mistakes are administrative: under-declared value, the wrong company, or shipping a card that one criterion already caps. And one attempted fix always makes things worse: cleaning, pressing or trimming a card is alteration, it leads to a grading refusal and it destroys the card's value.
The eight mistakes, by cost
1. Cleaning, pressing or trimming the card
The most expensive mistake, because it is permanent. Wiping with a damp cloth, pressing the card to flatten a crease, trimming a damaged edge: all of it counts as alteration. Grading companies detect it, refuse the card or label it as altered, and the value collapses. A damaged but original card is always worth more than a “repaired” one.
2. Submitting a card that centering already caps
Centering is decided when the sheet is cut. Beyond 65/35 at the front, a card will not exceed an 8 at PSA, whatever the state of the corners, edges and surface. It is measurable from a photograph, before you pay. Submitting without measuring means funding a grade you could have known in advance.
3. Handling the card bare-handed by its thin edges
Corners and edges concentrate the points lost, and they are exactly what you touch pulling a card out of a sleeve. A thumb pressed on a corner is enough to create a micro-crush invisible to the eye but perfectly visible under raking light — the light a grader uses.
4. Trusting the wrong sleeve
A sleeve that is too tight scratches the surface on every insertion; one that is too loose lets the card move and rub. Storing cards tightly upright in a full binder wears the edges through constant pressure. These are slow losses you do not see coming, and they are the difference between a 9 and a 10.
5. Photographing the card carelessly
This is the mistake that surprised me most while building the analysis. A card shot at an angle, in a reflection, or stacked with others becomes unreadable for assessment — and an assessment made on an unreadable image is worse than no assessment. That is exactly why the GradeMate report separates “not assessable” from “defective”: on a deliberately bad photo it refuses to conclude instead of returning a low grade on a card that might be flawless.
6. Under-declaring the value
The post-grading declared value is not only about insurance: it sets the service level. Too low and the order can be reclassified, with a surcharge to settle before the card comes back — and extra delay. Too high and you pay for a level you did not need.
7. Choosing the company on price
Price is the least important criterion, because the gap between companies is small next to the gap in slab value on resale. A slab that is poorly recognised in your market loses far more than the few euros saved. The right question is: who will buy this card, and which slab is that buyer looking for?
8. Comparing grades across companies
There is no official conversion table between the scales. Commercially, a BGS 9.5 compares to a PSA 10 far more than to a PSA 9. A PCA 10 is not a PSA 10, since the French scale has an extra step with the 10+. Reasoning that 9 equals 9 leads to double-digit valuation errors.
What can be recovered, and what cannot
| Criterion | Fixed when | Recoverable? |
|---|---|---|
| Centering | When the sheet is cut | Never — and any attempt is alteration |
| Print defect | At printing | Never |
| Corners | During the card's life | No, but the decline can be stopped |
| Edges | During the card's life | No — whitening is permanent |
| Surface | During the card's life | No for a scratch; yes for dust, dry only |
| Declared value | At order time | Yes, before shipping |
| Choice of company | At order time | Yes — afterwards it takes a paid crossover |
Photographing a card so it can be assessed
The four points that separate a usable estimate from a refusal to conclude.
1. Flat, one card only
The card laid flat, alone in the frame, with no other card or object. An angled stack makes centering impossible to measure and edges impossible to judge.
2. Diffuse light, no reflection
Direct light creates a reflection that hides exactly what matters: scratches and surface marks. Indirect light, or near a window without direct sun, beats a flash.
3. Both faces, in the right order
The back matters as much as the front: it is often what gives away a centering flaw or a mark. Label front and back clearly — confusing the two distorts the whole diagnosis.
4. Out of the sleeve, or a clean sleeve
A scratched or hazy sleeve transfers its own defects onto the assessment. If you would rather not remove the card, at least use a new, clear sleeve.
The lesson I had not anticipated
While calibrating the analysis I found a trap that applies to a human eye too: an unreadable card is not a defective card. Early versions of the report, given a photo taken at an angle with several cards stacked, returned a very low grade. That was logically wrong: the information was missing, not bad. The card could have been perfect.
The fix was to treat every criterion as either assessable or not assessable, exclude the non-assessable ones from the weakest-link calculation, and refuse to conclude beyond two unreadable criteria. The report then shows an inconclusive analysis, with no grade, and explains what to reshoot.
I mention it because the same reasoning applies to your own estimates. When you cannot see a criterion, do not count it as bad: retake the photo. Most of the poor submission decisions I have seen came from a conclusion drawn on absent information, not on wrong information.
Frequently asked questions
Can a fingerprint be removed from a card?
Dry, with a clean microfibre cloth, for superficial dust, without pressing: that is the maximum acceptable. Anything wet, anything that rubs, anything that presses is alteration and will be detected. When in doubt, do nothing: a dusty but intact card grades better than a cleaned one.
Can edge whitening be fixed?
No. Colouring a whitened edge is textbook alteration, spotted immediately, and grounds for refusal. Whitening is part of the card's condition: it is recorded, not treated.
Should the card come out of its sleeve to be photographed?
Not necessarily, if the sleeve is new and clear. A scratched, yellowed or dusty sleeve, however, adds defects that are not the card's. If you do take it out, hold it by the flat faces, never by the corners.
Is a card graded 8 worth grading at all?
On a common card, no: the slab costs more than it adds. On a rare card, yes, because authentication and encapsulation have value of their own, independent of the grade.
How long should a card be kept before grading?
Time never improves a card's condition; it can only degrade it. So the question is not when to grade but whether the price gap between grades justifies the cost. That is the subject of the article on which cards are worth grading.
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